Between Two Worlds

The Washington Times reported yesterday that "The NAACP will target private companies as part of its economic agenda, seeking reparations from corporations with historical ties to slavery and boycotting companies that refuse to participate in its annual business diversity report card." Powerline's Paul Mirengoff, in a brief analysis, gets it right with his headline: The NAACP Resorts to Extortion.

While Mirengoff lays out the arguments against the NAACP's new version, David Horowitz sets forth ten arguments against reparations in general:

1. There is no single group clearly responsible for the crime of slavery.
2. There is no one group that benefited exclusively from its fruits.
3. Only a tiny minority of white Americans ever owned slaves, and others gave their lives to free them.
4. America today is a multi-ethnic nation and most Americans have no connection (direct or indirect) to slavery.
5. The historical precedents used to justify the reparations claim do not apply, and the claim itself is based on race not injury.
6. The reparations argument is based on the unfounded claim that all African-American descendants of slaves suffer from the economic consequences of slavery and discrimination.
7. The reparations claim is one more attempt to turn African-Americans into victims. It sends a damaging message to the African-American community.
8. Reparations to African Americans have already been paid.
9. What about the debt blacks owe to America?
10. The reparations claim is a separatist idea that sets African-Americans against the nation that gave them freedom.

To see Horowitz's reasoning and arguments, read the whole thing.